1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed generally to a planar optical display, and, more particularly, to a light redirective display panel and a method of making a light redirective display panel.
2. Description of the Background
A thin optical display panel having a plurality of laminated optical waveguides is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,381,502, herein incorporated by reference, over which the present invention is an improvement. It is known in the art that waveguides may be used to produce an optical panel having an inlet face and an outlet face, and waveguides in a panel may include a transparent core laminated between opposite cladding layers having a lower index of refraction.
A thin display panel formed in this manner may be used in various applications, such as a television video display screen. However, because the screen forms a small acute face angle with the longitudinal axes of the waveguides, the light transmitted by the waveguides has maximum intensity when viewed coaxially, and therefore displays reduced intensity in the normal viewing direction generally perpendicular to the screen. The prior art has attempted to overcome the lowered intensity of light at the screen by frosting the outlet ends of the waveguides defining the screen, thereby diffusing the displayed light. However, frosting of the screen may not adequately increase intensity, and does not resolve the underlying problem of obliquely directed light inherent in the thin panel.
Therefore, the need exists for a thin display panel having increased light intensity at its screen, which light is redirected perpendicular to the screen.